Corporations and Food, Money, Finances

Off Topic
61

[quote]waldo21212 wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:

When the fast food corporations make their food suppliers produce foods in an unhealthy manner. Such as feeding cows corn. Then pumping them full of antibiotics. Using radioactive [/quote]

You realize the whole corn feeding animals thing is the goverments fault right? When you have so many subsidies on corn (tax breaks that the american people are paying for), that farmers have no reason not to grow it, the corn market prices get so low that you figure out ways to use cheap food (feed, HFCS, ect) that would have otherwise not made business sense without the cheap prices brought on by subsidies.

Do you know why the bill on a farmers hat is curved? It’s from looking in his mail box for his goverment check every month.[/quote]

Did you know that 90% of that money goes to corporate farms. Most other farms can’t meet subsidy requirements. The rich feeding the rich.

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[quote]streamline wrote:

[quote]waldo21212 wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:

When the fast food corporations make their food suppliers produce foods in an unhealthy manner. Such as feeding cows corn. Then pumping them full of antibiotics. Using radioactive [/quote]

You realize the whole corn feeding animals thing is the goverments fault right? When you have so many subsidies on corn (tax breaks that the american people are paying for), that farmers have no reason not to grow it, the corn market prices get so low that you figure out ways to use cheap food (feed, HFCS, ect) that would have otherwise not made business sense without the cheap prices brought on by subsidies.

Do you know why the bill on a farmers hat is curved? It’s from looking in his mail box for his goverment check every month.[/quote]

Did you know that 90% of that money goes to corporate farms. Most other farms can’t meet subsidy requirements. The rich feeding the rich.[/quote]
The lions share of funds do go to corporate farms but farmer Joe gets his share. Subsidies are given based on total costs and profit ratios. A $100m dollar farm will be awarded more than a $100k farm but not when you reduce the ratios.

63

[quote]tmay11 wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:
The good old days, crap. There were no good old days. There isn’t enough land for everyone to farm. So we have a market. Since I’ll a citizen I have a right to use that market. I also have the right to demand my food not be tainted. When I do that the market responds. It is however more expensive and will remain so until there is a greater need in the market. People don’t seem to understand their power, they’re sheep going to the slaughter.

As there should be a separation between Church and State. It should also be so with food and corporations. Share holder profit should not be the primary goal of those handling our food. Quality above all else.[/quote]

It’s quite simple - if people cared about quality then PURSUING QUALITY WOULD MAXIMIZE SHAREHOLDERS PROFIT. The two are not in conflict; business will maximize profit by best catering to the desires of the consuming public. If you don’t like the food being produced then you don’t like what people choose to eat. If you think the government should step in and “regulate” “healthy food” then you are saying people shouldn’t have a choice about what they eat.

Again - What you are unknowingly purposing is that people do not have the right to make choices about what they eat. Is this what you want ?

As someone who values healthy eating you should be a fan of the market system. Fat people can have their burgers/fries/dyes/preservatives and you can have your grass feed beef/pesticide free fruit etc. That is the beauty of the market - all people get to make their own choices and have them fulfilled.

You can bet that if the government starting (or I guess we should INCREASED) food regulation it would not turn out as you would hope… they would pander to special interest groups, make decisions based on outdated information etc. Think about the food pyramid… banning of unpasteurized milk etc …

[/quote]

You do realize you live in Canada. Our food industry is heavily regulated compared to US industry.

There are no labels on produce that inform buyers of there nutritional value. That make it hard to know exactly what one is buying. Consumers have the right to expect honest dealing when buying their foods.

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[quote]streamline wrote:

[quote]tmay11 wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:
The good old days, crap. There were no good old days. There isn’t enough land for everyone to farm. So we have a market. Since I’ll a citizen I have a right to use that market. I also have the right to demand my food not be tainted. When I do that the market responds. It is however more expensive and will remain so until there is a greater need in the market. People don’t seem to understand their power, they’re sheep going to the slaughter.

As there should be a separation between Church and State. It should also be so with food and corporations. Share holder profit should not be the primary goal of those handling our food. Quality above all else.[/quote]

It’s quite simple - if people cared about quality then PURSUING QUALITY WOULD MAXIMIZE SHAREHOLDERS PROFIT. The two are not in conflict; business will maximize profit by best catering to the desires of the consuming public. If you don’t like the food being produced then you don’t like what people choose to eat. If you think the government should step in and “regulate” “healthy food” then you are saying people shouldn’t have a choice about what they eat.

Again - What you are unknowingly purposing is that people do not have the right to make choices about what they eat. Is this what you want ?

As someone who values healthy eating you should be a fan of the market system. Fat people can have their burgers/fries/dyes/preservatives and you can have your grass feed beef/pesticide free fruit etc. That is the beauty of the market - all people get to make their own choices and have them fulfilled.

You can bet that if the government starting (or I guess we should INCREASED) food regulation it would not turn out as you would hope… they would pander to special interest groups, make decisions based on outdated information etc. Think about the food pyramid… banning of unpasteurized milk etc …

[/quote]

You do realize you live in Canada. Our food industry is heavily regulated compared to US industry.

There are no labels on produce that inform buyers of there nutritional value. That make it hard to know exactly what one is buying. Consumers have the right to expect honest dealing when buying their foods. [/quote]
We absolutely do have food labels. I’m looking at broccoli I’m preparing for dinner right now and the label gives macros and Micros. You need to start posting sources for all this wacky shot.

65

[quote]tmay11 wrote:
Do you really expect to be taken seriously when you get your information from Zeitgeist and “Inside Job”…?

Like I said, your post reads as satire to anyone who knows what they are taking about. Those are probably two of the worst sources to get information about economics from…

I have watched Zeitgeist and it pretty much hits on every fallacy in the book. It has so many contradictions and inconsistencies it’s incredible. Anyone who has taken a first year macro/micro course will be able to point out dozens of DEEP flaws in its reasoning. This is not a matter of opinion either.

Please don’t think you can get good information about economics from conspiracy theorist and Hollywood… [/quote]

Yet all Zeitgeist talked about was come to pass. Everything mentioned in Inside job happened. Millions lost huge amounts of money and a few became extremely rich. Yet nothing has changed.

66

[quote]streamline wrote:

[quote]waldo21212 wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:

When the fast food corporations make their food suppliers produce foods in an unhealthy manner. Such as feeding cows corn. Then pumping them full of antibiotics. Using radioactive [/quote]

You realize the whole corn feeding animals thing is the goverments fault right? When you have so many subsidies on corn (tax breaks that the american people are paying for), that farmers have no reason not to grow it, the corn market prices get so low that you figure out ways to use cheap food (feed, HFCS, ect) that would have otherwise not made business sense without the cheap prices brought on by subsidies.

Do you know why the bill on a farmers hat is curved? It’s from looking in his mail box for his goverment check every month.[/quote]

Did you know that 90% of that money goes to corporate farms. Most other farms can’t meet subsidy requirements. The rich feeding the rich.[/quote]

Did you know that we live longer healthier lives because of corporations?

Did you know that food is so abundant that poor people can get fat?

Did you know that being fat once was a status symbol?

If people want to be fat and happy, let them, what´s it to you?

71

[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]thick88 wrote:

…however hunter/gatherers worked/work an average of about 15 hours a week to provide sustenance for the entire familly…

[/quote]

Even though I agreed with the rest of your post I have to know where you came up with this ^ drivel?

This bullshit that asserts we know all kinds of things about prehistoric man based on what what most of the time amounts to no more than a tooth or some bone fragments has got to stop. Sheesh, for cryin-fuckin-out-loud.
[/quote]
I’ve read that figure in several places, some dealing with studies of modern hunter/gatherers (a few, very few, still exist). I agree extrapolating on how prehistoric man spent his time is nothing but guesses & fantasy.

I was using it not as a rock solid refutation, but more tongue & cheek response to the spend 40 hours a week farming your own food post.
72

[quote]streamline wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Yeah, gotta agree with beans on this one. The “financial corporations” didn’t FORCE idiots working at Wendy’s or Walmart to lie on their loan applications and STATE that they made 80K a year to qualify for a 350K house, sign that shit, and then walk away from the house because they couldn’t afford it in the first place…

The other half these idiots aren’t walking away because they cant afford it, they’re walking away because the house depreciated and they know that if they just short sell or foreclose, they can buy the SAME exact house in three years for 150K cheaper than what they currently have, and have a lower interest rate…

But you will argue they were deceived, right? If you are stupid enough to sign a bunch of paper that you don’t understand, or agreed to an ARM, then who do you have to blame but YOURSELF? But people are “victims” here, right? It’s ALL the “evil corporations” fault, right? Give me a break, dude. People are stupid.

I WILL however, agree that the food industry is SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP. There are more chemicals and preservatives and dyes pumped into our food and beverages than I am comfortable with. But again, while it definitely IS more of a pain in the ass, people can CHOOSE to buy locally produced food. There are farmers markets all over the place on certain days, so you don’t even have to travel outside of the city. There are options. But, do you know the main reason why corporations exist and our food supply is tainted? BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE STUPID. They are irresponsible and have no accountability for their actions (or lack of action) and are indifferent to any issue that isn’t simultaneously directly affecting them and right in their face. They are too distracted my Media and the general pursuit of entertainment to care about anything you are saying.

So fuck 'em. Let them die of cancer and be entertained. Anyone with a brain will have figured out what to eat and what not to eat. Survival of the fittest - it isn’t YOUR job to protect society from themselves… [/quote]

So explain this. A financial institution carrying a house loan at 99.7%. Talk about to good to be true and buyer beware. It was all a scam and a lot of people walked away very fucking rich. Yes, they all worked for financial corporations. Worst thing of all is that nothing was changed in the US.

Here in Canada we weren’t hit so bad because our financial market is regulated and was since the 2008 crash tighten up even more. Fact today we’re $1.06 on the US dollar. If you do pay attention to the global market. The Canadian dollar got beaten to death during that bubble. So once it popped. Our dollar bounced back or the rest fell down however you like to see things.
[/quote]

How is it a scam when you sign a NOTE that clearly explains the terms of what you are agreeing to? Even today, people with good credit can purchase a car (a well known depreciating asset) with “zero down and no payment for two months”. Why is it so hard to believe that buying a home at or near 100% is such a bad thing? Or a scam? Even today, the FHA loan program will allow you to purchase a home with an LTV of 96.5%. Is that really THAT big of a difference? Of COURSE not!

The issue is that people didn’t follow through on their commitments. They CHOSE to enter into an ARM vs. a FIXED rate mortgage. They KNEW it would adjust when the “teaser period” expired. They knew it would adjust to the market rate (which right now is LOWER than what their original rate was). So tell me, what’s the scam? Is it because the loan officer screwed them on the margin? (an ARM interest rate is comprised of an INDEX such as the LIBOR, MTA, etc… and a MARGIN, the amount of overage charged above the index). It’s NOT a radically difficult concept to understand, and one that is explained and so over disclosed it borders on ridiculous. So they KNEW what they were getting in to (and if they were so STUPID that they didn’t read the paperwork and just signed a bunch of shit they didn’t understand, then they DESERVE to lose their home for being a fucking IDIOT). At EVERY closing, the borrower is required to sign an “official” loan application (which should match exactly the one they filled out). If their income on that application was inflated, and they signed the fucking piece of paper, then THEY AGREED THAT IT WAS TRUE! Don’t fucking come back and complain that you can’t afford your mortgage now! If they entered into the BIGGEST financial decision they are likely to make in a hap hazard, willy nilly fashion and it bit them in the ass, then I sincerely HOPE they learned a lesson for the NEXT time they try and buy a house!

“but my house is upside down now” wah wah wah… “I shouldn’t have to pay for this mortgage now.” Please, get the sand out of your fucking vagina.

Sure, their house has probably lost a shit ton of value, but it was a market correction - something that is very natural. Real Estate has consistently appreciated over time. It is a FINITE asset - no one can dispute this… There is no reason why people can’t hold onto the asset, pay their mortgage LIKE THEY AGREED TO and WAIT for the market to catch up.

But people are impatient idiots. They can’t abide being “upside down” in their mortgage! Even though when they buy a new car, they are upside down the minute they drive it off the lot…

And why did banks grant these loans? To make INTEREST on the loans! There were HUGE secondary market demands because of how well they were performing. In case you haven’t heard, BANKS LEND MONEY AND CHARGE INTEREST. They are in the BUSINESS of making money. Now MOST of the banks were following the existing rules at the time with their banking practices. It wasn’t until CONGRESS went and changed the rules on them by establishing a policy of MARK TO MARKET accounting that everything imploded. By changing that tiny little accounting rule, banks were forced to count assets and mortgages that were performing JUST FINE as fucked up and as a result, got their ratios askew, lost their credibility (when you go from a 15/1 to a 30/1 practically overnight, you may tend to lose some investors) and were forced to close their doors. This created a “herd effect” and eventually it all came crashing down.

This isn’t a result of a “scam”. It is the result of STUPID people feeling entitled to something they didn’t earn, coupled by a very short sighted policy change. Was there a lot of money being made? Of course there was. But AT THE TIME, it was ALL LEGAL. So save the scam theory, OK? How can you blame an institution with a goal of profit for BEING PROFITABLE within the scope of the law? You then go on to say that “nothing has changed in the US”. Being in the mortgage business, I assure you PLENTY has changed. The pendulum has swung so far to the other side I sometimes have trouble getting very well qualified borrowers approved. It seems that every month they make another guideline change that is more restrictive or punitive (not so long ago, they limited the commission PERCENTAGE that I am allowed to make, as if there is no difference in a 100K loan and 700K loan and how you price it).

You then go on to talk about the Canadian dollar… I’m glad the Canadian dollar is doing so well, could you please tell me how that relates to this discussion?

You also ignore the fact that I agreed with you in the second half of my post about the food issue, choosing instead to fight with me about an industry I AM IN, and one that YOU WATCHED A VIDEO ABOUT…

74

[quote]streamline wrote:

[quote]Unaware wrote:

[quote]streamline wrote:
I am not sure where everyone is getting their information from, but it’s not the same place as me. If anyone truly wants to no what the fuck really went down. From the beginning, step by step. Watch the documentary “Inside Job” by Charles Ferguson. You can watch it free online. This film is narrated by Matt Damon and was made after the fact. If you want to hear from those who saw the bubble for exactly what it was. Check out the Zeitgeistmovie.com they called it before it happened.

Next I think a look at the documentary “Food Inc.” There are others but this one will do.

I for one am very selective about everything that goes in my body. I prefer to practice preventive medicine, but I have nothing against modern medicine. I just don’t think it’s the only way.

As for investing, well you watch those documentaries and then tell me how you feel about trusting your money to unregulated businesses.

Here’s one to choke down. An investment company tells a pension plan who are looking for sound investments. (Pension plans can only invest in “AAA stock”) That they have some triple A stock that is a great investment. While at the same time investing in dividend stocks on those same stocks failing.

Many here think people have an option. Think again, globe market crashes effect everyone. Even those being careful have a hard time dealing with crooks.

Yes we can, and most smart ones do shop at local markets. I like shopping local, it keeps my money local and feeds the local economy to a greater degree. Just like air and water pollution you can’t run away from it. You have to try and fix the problem.

[/quote]

This post has so many inaccuracies, it is clear you dont understand what you are talking about. AAA stock = figment of your imagination. [/quote]

So when I go online to “stock ratings” I’m not going to find a site that explains the way stocks are rated. Your answer is only several key strokes away. Try learning some facts before you mouth off.[/quote]

Are you seriously this dumb, or is this a joke?

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[quote]pushharder wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:

…choosing instead to fight with me about an industry I AM IN, and one that YOU WATCHED A VIDEO ABOUT…

[/quote]

AC, some perspective can be added to this discussion by reminding/informing our dear readers that Sir Streamline the Ignorant British Columbian Simian is the same moronic bonehead who years ago arrogantly and repeatedly asserted here that I was a criminal and child abuser who should serve time in prison because I lovingly and occasionally spanked my children when they were young under certain select conditions.

Chances are he may very well have watched a Matt Damon narrated video that helped him formulate his views on that subject as well.

(Fuckin Blockbuster…good thing they went bankrupt or StreamSimian may still be out there developing new conspiracies and crackpot ignorant bullshit)[/quote]

Wow - guess I should be right there with you. I mean we MUST have irreparably DAMAGED our children. I guess that’s why my eldest is in the National Honor Society, plays four instruments, won the chess tournament at his school, is the captain of his travel league soccer team (which he has decided to stop playing in favor of football because he recognizes it’s more bad ass) and is well on his way to becoming an Eagle Scout.

Oh, and he texted me not too long ago, “Hey Dad, I kissed two different girls tonight”. Did I mention that he is 6’3" at age 14 and is already squatting 225? And his hobbies include surfing and scuba diving? (I could keep going…)

Those spankings sure fucked him up!

78

[quote]angry chicken wrote:

“but my house is upside down now” wah wah wah… “I shouldn’t have to pay for this mortgage now.” Please, get the sand out of your fucking vagina.

Sure, their house has probably lost a shit ton of value, but it was a market correction - something that is very natural. Real Estate has consistently appreciated over time. It is a FINITE asset - no one can dispute this… There is no reason why people can’t hold onto the asset, pay their mortgage LIKE THEY AGREED TO and WAIT for the market to catch up.
[/quote]

No, they agreed to either pay it off or give the house back.

Like it or not, that seems to be the legal situation in the US and so both parties knew that that option was always on the table.

If my mortgage was seriously under water I would walk away too.

79

[quote]angry chicken wrote:
Yeah, gotta agree with beans on this one. The “financial corporations” didn’t FORCE idiots working at Wendy’s or Walmart to lie on their loan applications and STATE that they made 80K a year to qualify for a 350K house, sign that shit, and then walk away from the house because they couldn’t afford it in the first place…

The other half these idiots aren’t walking away because they cant afford it, they’re walking away because the house depreciated and they know that if they just short sell or foreclose, they can buy the SAME exact house in three years for 150K cheaper than what they currently have, and have a lower interest rate…

But you will argue they were deceived, right? If you are stupid enough to sign a bunch of paper that you don’t understand, or agreed to an ARM, then who do you have to blame but YOURSELF? But people are “victims” here, right? It’s ALL the “evil corporations” fault, right? Give me a break, dude. People are stupid.

I WILL however, agree that the food industry is SERIOUSLY FUCKED UP. There are more chemicals and preservatives and dyes pumped into our food and beverages than I am comfortable with. But again, while it definitely IS more of a pain in the ass, people can CHOOSE to buy locally produced food. There are farmers markets all over the place on certain days, so you don’t even have to travel outside of the city. There are options. But, do you know the main reason why corporations exist and our food supply is tainted? BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE STUPID. They are irresponsible and have no accountability for their actions (or lack of action) and are indifferent to any issue that isn’t simultaneously directly affecting them and right in their face. They are too distracted my Media and the general pursuit of entertainment to care about anything you are saying.

So fuck 'em. Let them die of cancer and be entertained. Anyone with a brain will have figured out what to eat and what not to eat. Survival of the fittest - it isn’t YOUR job to protect society from themselves… [/quote]

Another fantastic post by the chicken.

People are on such a crusade to render personal responsibility obsolete, it’s like they want to be slaves.

“It’s not us, it’s the corporations!!1 They’re all there, being all corporation-y and making money with their evil deeds! I am just a mere consumer without the ability to make a conscious choice - all I can do is bend over and receive the multinational love from Rape Inc.!”

80

I was going to guess that OP formulated this opinion after reading a link at the bottom of a 9/11 conspiracy page…so not to far off, eh?